GRAND DESIGN
On their promo sheet Swedish band Grand Design openly admit that they were after that big 1980s Def Leppard sound and it comes as no surprise that their debut could quite easily fit in with the Sheffield band's back catalogue. Just like Leppard's 1983 classic ‘Pyromania’, the production on this album is phenomenal. Although ‘Time Elevation’ is a decent enough effort it generally fails to ignite yet it makes a promising start with ‘Love Sensation’, ‘Slugged Out’, ‘Air It Out’ and ‘Piece Of The Action’ being very good tracks. All are catchy, dramatic and feature really strong melodies just like they could have been lifted from the aforementioned Leppard classic. ‘Sad Sound of Goodbye’ on the other hand is dull and uninteresting, veering towards the more ponderous ‘Hysteria’. ‘No Time For Love’ is a classic emotive power ballad in the vein of ‘Too Late For Love’ and shows off the qualities evident on the earlier tracks. Unfortunately, for me, the more Grand Design's songs sound like later Leppard era the worse it gets with ‘Hello Mr Heartache’ and ‘Let's Go Down Fighting’ being really average. The album finishes on a real low as the awful ‘Love Will Know’ is so sickly and turgid I was reaching out for the nearest bucket. ‘Time Elevation’ started well but by the end I got bored with the predictability and repetition of ideas. Def Leppard fans will still probably love this though. At least it's far superior than the woeful ‘Songs From The Sparkle Lounge’ but, to be honest, that wouldn't be difficult. If you crave for a return to the old Mutt Lange, somewhat over produced, Def Leppard sound then ‘Time Elevation’ is the perfect album for you. For everybody else, don't go anywhere near this, you'll probably despise it.
LABEL:
FORMAT:
Metal Heaven
Album
TIME ELEVATION
Review by Dave Crewe
RUNNING TIME:
49:25
RELEASE DATE:
26th Oct 2009
TRACK LISTING
1) Love Sensation
2) Slugged Out
3) Air It Out
4) Piece of the Action
5) Sad Sound of Goodbye
6) No Time for Love
7) Hello Mr Heartache
8) Let's Go Down Fighting
9) Sheik Iddup
10) Love Will Know
2) Slugged Out
3) Air It Out
4) Piece of the Action
5) Sad Sound of Goodbye
6) No Time for Love
7) Hello Mr Heartache
8) Let's Go Down Fighting
9) Sheik Iddup
10) Love Will Know
COUNTRY OF ORIGIN:
Sweden
"If you crave for a return to the old Mutt Lange, somewhat over produced, Def Leppard sound then ‘Time Elevation’ is the perfect album for you. For everybody else, don't go anywhere near this, you'll probably despise it."